Meet the Family
by FionaRain
Summary: April meets the Hamato family, a cute configuration of five children and their loving parents. TMNT human AU. (Karai is still called Miwa in this fic.) Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT but I do claim this AU
1. Chapter 1

April wasn't sure what to expect on her first trip to the Hamatos' house. The only member of the family she'd met was Donatello, who had invited her over to study and eat dinner. April walked up to the town house and rang the doorbell. About ten seconds later Donnie opened the door, a wide, slightly gap-toothed, grin on his sweet bronze face. "April! Come in, take your shoes off in the doorway please." Donnie said as he stepped aside to allow April in. She'd always thought it was odd that he had such an Asian sounding last name, since he was very clearly Hispanic, with golden tanned skin, warm brown eyes, and curly brown hair.

"Okay." April responded as she complied, she took one more step into the house and as was hit was a medley of wonderful smells.

"Mikey's cooking tonight, so I hope you're hungry." Donnie remarked, "He's making all the good stuff."

"Like what?" April inquired happily, breathing deeply through her nose as she followed Donnie into, what she assumed was, the dining room.

"Like dal batti, curried vegetables and tempeh, and roti. Everything's homemade." A voice with a thick, sweet Indian accent, answered from across the room. April looked over to see a boy leaning against a doorframe, his raven hair falling around his shoulders and over half his face. The one eye she could see was sorrel, and his face was a sun kissed russet hue. "And," he continued, "even though Teej was last month, I made ghevar."

"April, this is my little brother, Michelangelo. Mikey, this is April." Donnie introduced them.

Mikey put his palms together in front of his chest and bowed slightly. "Namastē" He chirped. He straighten and opened his mouth to continue, but was interrupted by a sudden pounding on the flight of stairs beside them. Two more boys appeared, leaning over the railing slightly. One of the boys had ivory skin, neatly combed sandy blond hair, and amber colored, almond eyes. The other boy had mahogany skin, a mess of short black hair, and round copper eyes.

Donnie rolled his eyes and turned to April, "These are my older brothers, Leonardo and Raphael. Guys, this is April."

The boy with ivory skin bowed to her as well, but he kept his arms at his sides and bent from the waist. "Hello. Please, call me Leo." He spoke in soft voice, April could hear a slight accent, but couldn't quite place the origin.

Raphael turned to her only long enough to say, "How's it goin'?" before turning to Mikey and inquiring about the ghevar, something that had Leo enthralled as well. Mikey began chewing them out in, what April assumed to be, Hindi, and put the two of them to work setting the table.

Mikey turned to Donnie and asked, "Do you mind running down stairs to tell Splinter and Ma that dinner is ready?" Donnie just nodded and ran off, leaving April with Mikey.

"What can I do to help?" April asked.

"Tell me what you would like to drink." Mikey responded with a sweet smile, as he walked into the kitchen.

"A guest is to be taken care of, not put to work." Leo explained quietly from behind April.

April looked at the table and silently counted the places, there was one for each brother, two for their parents, one for her, and one more. She was about to ask Mikey who it was for, when a girl walked down the stairs. Like Leo, the girl had Ivory skin and almond shaped eyes, but her eyes were honey colored, and her hair was a rich brown.

Mikey walked back into the dining room, upon seeing the girl on the stairs, he spoke, "April this is our older sister, Miwa. Miwa, this is Donnie's friend April."

Miwa bowed slightly in the same form as Leo, and said, "Hello. I'm glad to meet you."

"Likewise." April responded.

Donnie reentered the room, followed by a man and a woman. The man had ruddy skin, short black hair, and amber eyes. The woman had Ivory skin, deep brown hair, and eyes the same honey color as Miwa's. Donnie spoke up, "April these are my parents, Yoshi and Tang Shen." Each parent bowed slightly in turn, matching smiles on their faces.

Mikey emerged from the kitchen holding a large platter laden with food. Yoshi went to help him, closely followed by Raph. "Sit, sit." Mikey ordered everyone else, as the three set the dishes on the table. Donnie held out a chair for April, then plopped himself in the seat beside her.

April was soon very glad Donnie was close, because he stated explaining to her what each dish was. Fortunately there wasn't anything too weird, which, Donnie explained, was mostly because Mikey was a vegetarian.

Dinner was nice, April only burned her tongue on the curry twice, and found out that dal batti is really good on roti. April learned that Mr. Hamato works as a martial arts teacher, Mrs. Hamato owns a sweet shop in the city, Raph has plans to try out for the school hockey team, and Miwa is working towards becoming a videographer. The last was evidenced by Miwa pulling out a handheld camera, and videotaping dinner, until Splinter told her to put it away.

While Leo and Raph began clearing away the dinner dishes, and Mikey and Miwa went into the kitchen. Raph was now bouncing with excitement, and Leo was very willing to help Miwa set out a second round of plates and forks. April watched in slight confusion as this occurred, until Donnie leaned over close enough to whisper the word "Dessert" in her ear.

Mikey emerged from the kitchen with a large disc shaped cake, that turned out to be the coveted ghevar.

After dessert, April and Donnie went up to the attic to study. It was an amazing room, there were four tables, a few wooden chairs, several beanbags, and a large book shelf lined with everything from textbooks to Harry Potter. The walls were lined with maps, and posters of things like: the periodic table, a list of U.S. Presidents, and a chart of piano chords.

After about an hour and a half of studying, April put down her book and turned to Donnie, "You have a lovely family." She stated. "It's such a diverse home."

"Yeah, Miwa's the only biological kid in the bunch." Donnie explained, "She, mom, and dad are from Tokyo, and Leo's from Kyoto, the four of them moved here after Leo's bio dad, who was practically dad's brother, died in a fire. Then they decided to adopt some more, I'm from Guatemala City, Raph's from Pretoria, and Mikey's from Jaipur." Donnie grinned, at April's slightly confused face, "I dare you to try and find all our cities on a map."

April smiled a bit, "It can't be that hard. Okay, Mikey's obviously Indian, so that narrows his down." April walked over to the map on the wall and began to scrutinize India. After a minute or two, she finally shouted, "Found it!"

"Yep. Jaipur, Rajasthan." Donnie beamed over April's shoulder, "Now find Raph's." He challenged, his grin turning sly as he pointed at the picture of Africa.

April's smile faltered slightly. The darn thing was huge, this was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack! She stood there, staring at it for about two minutes before Donnie started laughing, "Do you want a hint?" He offered.

April nodded, "I don't even know how to pronounce most of these places." She added in a defeated whisper.

"It's a southern capital." Donnie stated.

April's smile returned as she scanned Mozambique, "That was two hints." She replied.

"You needed them." Donnie laughed.

She looked over Batswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe to no avail. Finally, she examined South Africa, after another moment she shouted, "Pretoria!"

"Correct." Donnie beamed.

"And here's Guatemala City." April stated after another moment. "And here's Kyoto, and Tokyo!"

"Ding, ding, ding! You win a prize!" A voice cheered from behind them. The two turned to see Mikey standing at the doorway with a big grin on his face. "Seriously, we're going to watch a movie down stairs, and you two are welcome to join us."

It took some coxing from Donnie, but April agreed to movie night, and soon found herself on the couch between Donnie and Raph. April felt Raph nudge her upper arm with his elbow, and turned to see him holding out a bowl of popcorn to her. She jumped a bit when all five Hamato children shouted in unison "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away." Followed by the "Star Wars Opening Theme."

April had a feeling she would be great friends with these guys.


	2. Chapter 2

April watched as three of the five Hamato kids frolicked about the skate park. Miwa was more interested in filming her brothers' tricks, than she was with skating herself, and Donnie had plopped down on the bench beside April to take a break. Mikey shouted something from the top of the half pipe, before skating down one side, then popped back up and managing a flip on the other. April turned to Donnie and half whispered, half laughed, "I don't know what he said."

Donnie laughed, "Oh, come on. He spoke in plain English that time!"

April shifted a bit, "It didn't sound like it." She admitted.

"He said, 'No one tell Ma about this, okay.'" Donnie clarified.

April nodded in acknowledgement, "He, uh, he was so high up I couldn't hear him right." She muttered.

"Liar." Donnie chastised, playfully bumping into her a little, "You have trouble understanding him when you're three feet away."

"Okay, fine. Maybe I do have some trouble with his accent." April admitted. "I don't get why his is so thick, but the rest of you either have none, or a really subtle one."

Donnie shrugged a bit, "Mikey likes his accent, says it fits in his mouth better than the American one."

"Yeah, that doesn't explain the rest of you."

"When Raph was about six, he decided he didn't like his accent, and wanted one like Captain Reader, from the computer program we used as kids. Mom says Miwa's has always been subtle. And Leo used to have a thick accent, and I don't remember how thick mine was, but he and I both started slipping in and out of American accents around the age of ten."

April was nodding a bit, "Okay, three down, two to go. Why did you and Leo get accents when you were ten?"

"Well, Mom says we almost had them anyways, from all the American TV we watched. But, she thinks that taking music lessons with Mrs. Robertson was what gave us the final push."

"Music lessons?" April pressed.

"Mom and Dad believe that kids need a well-rounded education; that means books, sports, crafts, and music. Leo and Miwa play the flute, Raph and Mikey play guitar, and I play piano. Mrs. Robertson taught us all everything we know." Donnie explained, "Oh! And Raph's teaching himself to play the drums." Between the air quotes around the phrase, "teaching himself," and the shudder Donnie gave at the end of the sentence, April assumed Raph mostly just banged on the drum set.

Speaking of Raph, he was roller-blading over to them, phone in hand. "Mom called, said to pass on a message to you." Raph informed his brother.

"Okay, shoot." Donnie said.

Raph took a deep breath, before suddenly bellowing, "Donatello Hernandez Hamato! Your stupid robot bit the cat again! You get home right now and deal with it, so help me, I'll smash it to bits!"

Donnie winced at the last part and got up, "Sorry April, but you heard him." Donnie said, as he hopped on his skate board to head home.

"And turn your phone back on!" Raph hollered after his brother.

April turned back to Raph to see him tapping the screen of his phone, probably texting his mom. "Hey, wait." April said, causing Raph to look up from the device in hand, "The new T-phone's not supposed to be out until next week. So how'd you get one?"

"Next week in America, but they were released in Japan last month." Raph stated with a slight shrug. "Pops bought 'em for us."

"Like, as a reward? Did you get straight A's or something?"

"Nah, just because."

Leo skated over and stopped his board beside them, "Hi, what's up over here?"

"Klunk's gonna be missing some hair for a while, Donnie got called home, and April wanted to know where we got our phones." Raph told his brother.

Leo grinned at April, "Yeah one of the perks of being in a rich family is, when you're parents are really happy, you randomly get cool stuff."

April knew her eyes were wider than was polite, but she couldn't seem to make herself fix it. And having Raph and Leo laughing at her wasn't helping.

"They exaggerate." Miwa chided, as she walked over to the bench. "We're not extremely rich or anything, but we certainly can afford more plane tickets than the average family. See, our grandfathers are both high-ranking businessmen back in Japan. Neither mom, nor dad has any siblings, so we get all of our grandparent's attention and support."

"Also, some of the family business trips resulted in mom and dad spending a few years in the U.S., so they ended up with duel citizenships." Leo added.

"And that influenced their move from Japan, to New York." Raph finished.

"Cool. I just have one more question." April replied. "Where's Mikey?"


	3. Chapter 3

April watched as Raph nearly broke the door rushing into the house, swinging a hockey stick. Raph was smiling so wide, it was a wonder his face didn't spilt in two. "I'm on the team! I'm on the team!" Raph shouted as he bounced in place.

"That's wonderful!" Tang Shen exclaimed, moving from the couch to embrace her son.

Splinter beamed "I'm very proud, my son. In fact, I could go into a very long speech about how proud I am. However," Splinter punctuated his speech by handing Raph one of the home phones, "I believe there is a call you wish to make."

April hadn't known it was possible to smile wider than Raph already was, but he did. He ran upstairs dialing the phone. April heard Raph shout "Jer, Ek het die hokkiespan!"

April turned to Donnie with a quirked eyebrow. Donnie leaned a bit closer to explain in a hushed tone, "Jerome is Raph's uncle, he lives back in Pretoria."

April nodded. "And he's speaking German because?"

"He wasn't. He speaks Afrikaans."

"Oh." April felt the tips of her ears turn red. She knew it was silly to feel bad for not knowing something, but this was a bit bigger than asking Leo if he watched anime without subtitles. She didn't even know what Raph's native language was!

Her thoughts where disrupted by Donnie poking her with a pencil, then leaning over and whispering, "Most people ask him if he speaks African, because they think Africa's a country."

April couldn't help but giggle a bit. She'd heard jokes about that sort of thing, but didn't realize it actually happened.

Raph bounded back down the stairs with his hand over the receiver, "Jer wants to know if he can come watch a game or two."

Splinter and Tang Shen, looked at each other, and then turned stern faces to Raph. "There will be conditions." Splinter began. "He must sit with us at the game."

"He must allow us to pay at dinner." Tang Shen interjected.

"And, he cannot steal the Declaration of Independence. Now, I know that last one may be difficult for him to agree to, but that is our final decision. Stop laughing! This is serious!" Splinter mock scolded.

Raph laughed into the phone, "Hulle het gesê ja!" He listened to the phone a moment. "Regkom. Leif vir jou, bye." Raph hung up the phone and plopped down on the couch between his parents. "He'll call back when he has a calendar in front of him." He informed them.

Donnie nudged April, and motioned towards the stairs. They headed up to the attic to work on their homework in peace. They stacked their books on one of the tables, and decided to start with chemistry.

April shifted awkwardly and piped up, "I really don't mean to sound rude, but what exactly is Raph's family situation?"

Donnie cocked his head to the side, and seemed lost in thought for a moment, before answering. "I guess I can tell you. Raph's dad was never really in the picture, and his mom basically tossed him aside as soon as possible. So Jerome took care of Raph as long as he could, but it got to be too much for him. He decided to try and find a nice couple to adopt Raph, his agent found mom and dad, and they made a custody arrangement. The idea was to work out an agreement similar to that of divorced parents, you know, every other holiday with Jerome, frequent phone calls, that kind of thing."

"That's kinda sad." April commented.

"Not really, Donnie just isn't telling it right." Raph interjected from the doorway. "See, dad was an international super-spy, and mom was exotic animal trainer! My uncle was the only one who could possibly-"

"Last time you said your dad was a prince." Donnie interrupted.

"Do you think he was both?" April inquired, completely unable to stop herself from smiling.

"Yeah!" Raph exclaimed, "And Jerome became my guardian, because he was the only one who could be trusted with the chosen one!"

Their giggles soon got as crazy as the stories they made up.


	4. Chapter 4

Warning: Reference of past child abuse.

April sat cross-legged against the wall as she watched Leo and Raph fight. Raph threw blow after blow, attempting to get a sold hit on Leo. Leo dodged, while trying to find an opening in his brother's defense. Finally, a timer beeped and Splinter called an end to the sparring match. Both boys turned and bowed to their father, then began to clean up from the day's practice.

Raph punched Leo's shoulder again, this time light and playful, "You got lucky today, champ." He joked.

Leo laughed, and sarcastically replied, "Yes, that's exactly what happened. It's not like I'm better than you or anything." The two pulled faces at each other while putting away their padding.

Donnie trotted over to his father, "Okay, I'm done organizing the weapons cabinet." Donnie reported.

"Very good." Splinter replied, "You are finished for the day."

"Thanks dad." Donnie chirped, heading for the stairs out of the basement.

April followed Donnie up into the living room. "That was pretty cool to watch." April remarked. "It was the first time I'd seen someone spend three minutes trying to hit their bother in the head. Well, at least, the first time I saw someone do so, while their dad judged." She added in a giggle.

Donnie laughed, "It's practically second nature around here. Dad used to be in a lot of martial arts competitions when he was our age, so you can imagine how proud he was when Leo, Miwa, and Raph, all decided they wanted to follow in his footsteps."

"What about you and Mikey?" April inquired.

"We've learned to fight, but I'm more into academics than athletics, and Mikey doesn't like fighting unless he's training, or he absolutely has to." Donnie opened his mouth to say more, but was cut off by the sound of a plate shattering in the kitchen. Donnie's eyes went wide as he ran in the direction of the crash.

April followed him into the kitchen, but wasn't at all prepared for what she saw. Mikey was hiding under the table, shaking violently with his arms over his head. Tang Shen was crouched down near the table, saying something April couldn't make out, in a sing-song tone.

Miwa looked up from where she was cleaning up the plate remains with a dustpan, "Donnie, go get Klunk. He should be in his basket." She directed.

Donnie walked off, back in the direction of the basement. When he returned a moment later, he was carrying a small orange ball of fur with green eyes, which he promptly stuck under the table towards Mikey.

Donnie walked back over to April, placed a hand on her shoulder, and wordlessly guided her back into the living room. Once there, Donnie explained, "Mikey's having a panic attack, it's best to let just one or two people take care of it." April was staring incredulously at Donnie, silently asking for more information. "It was the plate." Donnie stated. "The sound of pottery and dishes breaking triggers him."

"Why? What happened" April asked, awkwardly wringing her hands.

Donnie shook his head, "Not right now."

April sat on the couch as Donnie set up "Oliver and Company" on the DVD player. After a while, Mikey wandered into the room, still shaking a bit, and carrying Klunk. He stood in the doorway a moment before joining the other two on the sofa.

Mikey had pulled his hair into a ponytail, usually his hair covered half his face, and now April knew why. Three long scars ran almost the length of his face, one narrowly missing his eye.

Donnie gently set his arm around his little brother's shoulders, as Mikey softly scratched behind the cat's ears.

April found herself focusing more on Mikey than the movie. She watched him slowly transition from quivering in fear, to leaning onto Donnie's shoulder and slightly reacting to the movie.

April was in the middle of thinking of a polite way to ask about Mikey's past, when her cell phone scared her half to death. She let out a small sigh, it was just her dad, texting her a reminder that she needed to be heading home now.

The following afternoon, April met Donnie at an internet café. Donnie set down some coffees for the two of them, and took his place at the computer across from April.

April had just opened her browser when Donnie told her to check her email. She opened it to find that he'd sent her something literally a minute ago. She opened it, and read. "Mikey's fine with me telling you what happened, as are mom and dad."

April wasn't sure what to say to this, so she emailed back, "Okay, why the email?"

Donnie typed another email, it read, "I can't bring myself to say it out loud_." _

"So you're going to tell me what happened, via email?" April typed back, shooting Donnie a look from across their laptops. Donnie just nodded and started typing.

"Mikey was four when we adopted him. Before that, he'd lived with his father, his mother had died a few weeks after Mikey was born due to post term pregnancy complications. Mikey's father snapped and blamed Mikey for the death, and spent the next couple of years punishing him for it. He used every weapon he could: yelling, beating, kicking, and throwing things at Mikey. You saw some of Mikey's scars yesterday, those are the result of him being hit with the jagged side of broken plate." April stared at the screen, she could still hear Donnie typing, she suddenly wasn't sure she wanted to read the next part.

"Mikey was really messed up by that guy, he has to call our dad "Splinter" to keep from associating the two. It doesn't seem like it, but he's really scared of a lot of things, mostly strange men and loud noises. He's gotten better with time, but panic attacks are still a bit of a problem, but even those have become much more manageable."

April couldn't bring herself to reply. What she'd seen yesterday was horrible, and now Donnie was telling her this was the extremely improved version of what used to happen. She felt somewhat stupid just sitting there, glancing around, her gaze every so often returning to the computer, despite her wish to not have to face the words anymore. She now fully understood why Donnie couldn't say this aloud.


	5. Chapter 5

"Casey Jones, king of cool, hockey player extraordinaire! That's what my fans will call me when I play for the NHL." Casey bellowed, as he shot another puck at the goal Raph defended.

"I don't know. I like 'puck brain' better." Raph sneered after he blocked the shot.

"Rude." Casey replied, with a matching sneer, taking a second shot. This time, the puck managed to go under Raph's knee before he could stop it. "Five out of ten."

"One more shot, loser buys lunch?" Raph suggested with a small shrug.

"You're on!" Casey exclaimed. The two got into position again, "Ready? On three."

"One." Casey held his stick at the ready.

"Two." Casey planed where he was aiming for.

"Three!" Casey hit the puck, watched as it sailed for the goal, and, was promptly caught by Raph.

Raph took off his helmet and grinned at Casey, then casually threw the puck over his shoulder into the goal. "Whoops, it crossed the line. I guess you win."

Casey just shook his head, a smile tugging at his lips. "Whatever man."

Casey and Raph sat on Raph's bead, eating Chinese food out of Take-away cartons. Casey shifted a bit, "You're sure your parents won't mind?"

"Course not." Raph answered, "We do this all the time."

"Eating in your room, or randomly getting take-out?" Casey implored.

"Yes." Raph responded with a small laugh.

The two boys had just set up Raph's laptop and were debating what they should watch on mondoflix, when the bedroom door opened. Leo stepped in, his eyes widening a bit at the site of Raph and Casey on the bed. It wasn't like Casey didn't think Leo would come in here, after all, this was Leo's room too. Raph picked up one of the boxes of fried rice and offered it to Leo, who took it without hesitation.

Casey wasn't really sure what he was supposed to say, if anything. Leo just grabbed a packet of chopsticks and a book from his nightstand, before exiting the room again.

Casey couldn't help but notice that the previously shut door was now carefully left partially ajar.

Raph let out a little sigh, having noticed the door as well. "Leo can be a bit of a mother hen." He rolled his eyes and explained, "He's been on my case lately about 'having non-family in the bedroom.' Says I should take a leaf outta' Donnie's book and stick to hanging in the attic and living room with you."

Casey smiled, "Yeah, never know what kinda' mischief the two of us will get up to."

Raph chuckled, "Don't get me wrong, he's a great guy, my favorite older brother. Course, he's the only older brother I've got, so it wasn't that tight a competition."

Casey nodded, "I feel ya'."

"Yeah, I think that's what Leo's worried about." Raph joked. Suddenly his eyes widened, like he'd just realized what he'd said. "Ah, shoot, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that, it just came out."

"Dude it's cool." Casey laughed. Raph's shoulders dropped from where they'd been raised from his sudden tension. "Seriously, I've heard a dirty joke before."

"Okay. Hey, bro to bro talk, right now." Raph began, looking at Casey with a serious expression, "Promise me that, if I ever say something that makes you uncomfortable, or offends you, you'll tell me. In return, I promise not to judge, and not to question your boundaries."

"Okay. I'll promise that if you will." Casey stated, mirroring Raph's seriousness.

"Promise." The two shook hands, then employed the secret handshake they'd come up with the other day.

"Umm." The two turned to see Leo standing in the door, trying to fight a grin. "I'm sorry, am I interrupting?"

Raph grabbed a pillow and promptly started whacking Leo with it. As much as Casey wanted to watch Raph cream Leo, he couldn't let things go on like this. So, he threw Leo a pillow with a shout of, "Arm yourself!"

Casey grinned as he watched what may just be, the single most crazy pillow-fight ever. "Damn." He thought, "We're gonna need a new secret handshake."


	6. Chapter 6

April and Donnie walked through the side door, as they took off their shoes, they saw an extra pair of shoes in the entry. "Oh, Casey must be here." Donnie stated. April could hear a bit of disdain in his voice.

"I take it you're not a fan." April remarked.

Donnie shook his head a little, "He's a lot like Raph. Brash, rude, crazy, and has horrible anger management issues."

"I've never noticed any anger issues in Raph."

"Yeah, well, he's been working on it for a few years. You want to know how they met. Raph and Casey, that is."

"Humor me."

"They got into a fight at school. Our parents and his dad decided it would be pointless to tell them to avoid each other, so they made them spend the weekend together to find some common ground. They found hockey, skating, martial arts, and action movies. Now they're practically inseparable!" Donnie seemed a bit perturbed by this.

April giggled a bit as they walked into the living room. Raph was setting up the gaming console, and there on the couch, sat Casey Jones. His ink black hair framed his sepia face, and golden brown eyes shown as he sifted through game choices. Of course, she took points off the attractive chart for his missing teeth. And, because he was a jerk.

"You." April snarled at Casey.

"Oh, uh. Hey O'Neil. Fancy meeting you here." Casey stammered. At least he had the good sense to move away from the fuming redhead. Unfortunately, he didn't move fast enough, and April gave him a solid right hook in the jaw.

April raised her fist again, Casey's hands went up to protect his face. So April kicked him hard in the shins. "That," She roared, "Is for making fun of Irma." April turned sharply on her heel and grabbed Donnie's hand, dragging him towards the stairs.

yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

"So. Who's Irma?" Raph asked, as he retrieved an icepack for Casey.

"Just some chick at school. My grade, ugly glasses, sitting on her ugly nose, and has voice like a chainsaw." Casey berated. "And she's so weird! One, she likes rats! Two, she doesn't eat bacon. C, she- Ow!" Raph had dropped the icepack on Casey's head.

"Case, a wise man once told me, 'if a tree grew every time you muttered an insult, the world would be nothing but jungle.'" Raph stated.

"Who said that?" Casey inquired, nursing his wounded jaw.

"My pops." Raph smirked.

"Isn't your pops a champion fighter?"

"That's beside the point. What I'm saying is, I know I'm not exactly in the running for sainthood, but I have learned when to just mind my own business." Raph explained.

"So you're saying, 'if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.'" Casey clarified, not looking too amused by the Disney lesson of the day.

"No. I'm all for cussing out the people that shout gibberish at Leo and Miwa, then laugh and ask what they just said in Chinese. I'm saying, save your insults for when you need them, or else you're gonna get your butt kicked by a raging half black, half fightn' Irish girl with a killer right hook."

Casey couldn't hide his smile. April was scary when she was raging, but she was cute otherwise. With her wavy red hair, her dark hazel eyes, and olive skin dotted with freckles. Casey sighed, "Fine. I guess I can learn to save the insults for people who use my culture as a Halloween costume, and just keep my opinions of Irma to myself."

"Ata boy." Raph cheered, giving Casey a playful punch in the shoulder. " 'Cause if this happens again, I'm putting my money on April."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I'm not sure I hate him. I just told him I'd punch him if he ever messed with my friends again. So, really, I was just making good on an old promise." April informed Donnie.

Donnie just nodded. He decided he would never admit that the only reason he didn't like Casey, was because Casey was an Islanders fan.


	7. Chapter 7

Yoshi awoke and stared at the orange lights of his clock. It was 3:07 in the morning and something wasn't right. He sat up and left the bed, careful not to wake his wife. He pulled on his garnet bathrobe and exited the bedroom. Yoshi wandered downstairs, wondering what was amiss. The day had been rater eventful, with three of his children taking part in a day long martial arts expo. Raphael had worked a kata demonstration, Miwa preformed a weapons demonstration, and Leonardo had competed in a small tournament. Yoshi was proud of his children, Raphael had perfect form, Miwa was calm and safe, and Leonardo had won his age bracket. To be honest, Yoshi was almost certain Leonardo could have won the older brackets as well.

Yoshi found what was off kilter, the light in the basement was on. He quietly descended the stairs, and peered into the room they used as a dojo. He saw Leonardo sitting on the floor, looking at his shelf of the trophy cabinet. Yoshi crossed the room to sit next to his son, and followed the young boy's gaze. After a moment, Leonardo broke the silence. "Do you think mama and papa would be proud of me?"

"Of course." Yoshi answered without hesitation. Yoshi had no idea where this question was coming from, or where it was going. He figured the best way to find out was to be straight forward. "Why do you ask?"

"Because, I'm not sure." Leonardo said, in a sort of half-statement, half-inquiry. "I don't really have any memories of them, so all I have is the memories of others." Leonardo leaned a little on Yoshi. "I just don't want to forget them, even though I don't really have anything to forget. Does that make since?"

"I believe so. You are saying that, even though you have very few personal memories about your mother and father, you wish to remember them as best you can, the only way you feel you can?"

"Yeah, which brings me to my next question. What was papa like when he was my age?"

Yoshi thought for a moment, a fond smile inching onto his face. "Well, he was like a brother to me."

"So he was kind, helpful, and loving, and stuff?"

"Sometimes. But more often, he was like a brother to me." Yoshi replied with a little laugh.

"I'm not sure I understand."

"We acted much like how you and your siblings behave. Yes, you all love each other, but you are far from angelic. You play rough, you poke fun, and sometimes, you fight." Yoshi chuckled. "Your father was a wonderful man, but he was one hell of a brother. Once, when he and I were around your age, he told me he saw something at the bottom of our school's pool. Then, when I peered into the water, he pushed me in!" Yoshi recalled.

"Sounds like something Raph and I would do." Leonardo stated, smiling at the story.

"Yes it does. That's why I try to keep an eye on you two." Yoshi replied, gently nudging Leonardo.

"What about mama?"

Yoshi hummed quietly as he thought. "I did not know Izumi as well as I did Oroku, but the first time I meet her, she saved mine and your father's hides. It was my last year of high school, that day it was my classes turn to clean the school. Oroku and I were arguing over a broom, and accidently knocked it over and broke a window. Our headmaster was furious, and demanded to know who was responsible. Suddenly, Izumi started crying, and told the headmaster that there had been a 'scary spider' on the window, and she'd hit it with the broom handle to kill it. The headmaster couldn't bring himself to yell at a crying little girl, and let her off with a warning. As soon as he left, she stopped crying and told Oroku that if he wanted to repay her, he should take her to McDonalds." Yoshi marveled.

Leonardo laughed, "So the cost of loyalty is a teriyaki burger?"

"Well, it turned out she'd been trying to work up the courage to ask Oroku on a date, and when she saw her chance, she took it." Yoshi beamed. "She was a funny girl. She was a short and pudgy little blonde, who used a Kitty-Chan pen for everything because she believed it was lucky. Yet she had the utmost respect of our peers."

The two leaned on each other, enjoying the current silence of the house.

"So, you're really truly sure there's no danger of me forgetting them?" Leo whispered.

"Leonardo, it is three in the morning on a school night, and you spent almost all of yesterday working your rear end off for a title. Most children would either be sleeping like the dead, or jumping around, fueled by bragging rights. Instead, you were sitting alone in a half lit basement, thinking about your parents. I do not think you will forget them anytime soon." Yoshi reassured, wrapping Leonardo in a warm hug.

"Thanks dad." Leonardo said, his words slightly muffled by the hug.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

XD I had to update because I only just now realized I've been misspelling Oroku's name. (That's what I get for writing at midnight, and proof reading at 1 a.m.)


	8. Chapter 8

Casey felt a bit off this morning. He wasn't sure if it was nerves, or if it was his body reminding him why he was never on time for school. Either way, he saw April and Irma walk in, and they had a few minutes before the first bell.

"Hi." He greeted the girls. The two just stared blankly at him. He shifted a bit, trying to remember the speech he'd written in his head. "Irma, I've been a complete butt and I'm sorry. I get that practically everything I've ever said to you was uncalled for, and I promise that I'll never do it again. If you could ever find a way to forgive me, I'd like to try and start over."

"Alright, I suppose you're forgiven." She said, and then simply headed to her seat.

"What? That's it? You're just forgiving me?" Casey cried incredulously.

Irma shrugged, "Your apology sounded pretty sincere. And it's not like forgiving you makes us best friends or anything." Irma said dismissively. "It just means that I don't have to bother holding a grudge."

"Well, I guess. But I'd like to at least try out being friends, if you'd be willing." Casey said.

"Okay. Fine by me."

Casey slid into the seat next to Irma, trying desperately to think of something else to say. He almost slapped his forehead when he realized the next topic was right under his nose. "I like your hijab." He said, pointing to the violet scarf that framed her copper face.

"Oh, thank you." Irma said, setting a notebook on her desk.

"Is purple your favorite color?"

"Yeah."

Casey glanced over her outfit, mentally scrabbling for something else. She was wearing a blue turtle neck, a purple ankle length skirt, and purple sneakers. Without thinking, Casey said, "Aren't you hot?"

"No. I'm drop dead gorgeous." Irma snapped, not missing a beat. She stared at him, absolutely boring holes into in head.

This time, Casey actually did slap his forehead. "I'm sorry. That was really stupid."

"It's not the dumbest thing I've heard." Irma said, a tiny smile tugging at her lips, "But it does rank in the top twenty."

"Sorry. I'll just go now." Casey mumbled, getting up.

"You don't have to." Irma called, "It was stupid, but not exactly offensive."

Casey at back down. He took a breath, getting ready to try a new subject, when Irma cut him off. "So when does the school's hockey season start?"

"Our first practice was two weeks ago, and the first game is here this Friday." He told her.

"Cool. What time?"

"It starts at six o'clock. You gonna to come?"

"Yeah. April wanted to go already." Irma said, jerking her head towards April in the seat behind her. "She's got a friend on the team. You probably know him, Raphael Hamato."

"Yeah. Raph's awesome! Best defense I've ever played with."

The two talked for a while longer, before the homeroom teacher walked in told them to hush.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's note: Sorry this took so long to update, I just started college and it's been a bit hectic. Sorry for any errors in this chapter, I've never been great at proof reading, and this is probably going to have a few flaws. OTL (p.s. Lamont is Leatherhead, I don't know if that's clear or not.)

3333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333

When the door opened, April immediately went to hug the boy who opened it. "Don't!" Donnie said, putting a hand on her shoulder to keep her away. "I'm covered in sauce." He explained, gesturing to the stained apron he wore.

"Why?" April asked, slipping off her shoes.

"I was cooking." Donnie said simply.

"Why?" April asked with a little chuckle, after all, Donnie could barely make rice.

Donnie grinned, a slightly wicked gleam in his eye. "Mikey's bringing home a friend. He thinks he's safe because we can't cook as well as he can, but he's wrong."

"Safe?" April inquired, following Donnie to the kitchen.

"From the 'engagement dinner'." Raph told her.

"It's a joke. When we bring someone over for the first time, Mikey makes Indian food, and teases that it's a 'traditional Hindi engagement dinner'." Leo explained, as he stirred some beans in a pot.

"He's done it when I brought home Tim and you, and when Raph brought home Casey. We feel it's our duty as his siblings to do it when he brings home Lamont tonight." Donnie told her, pulling the batti rolls from the oven.

"Who's Lamont?" April asked, stealing a carrot slice from Donnie's cutting board, then popping it into her mouth.

"He's the newest of Mikey's friends, and the first one Mikey made on his own." Miwa responded, putting the vegetables into a wok, "Which is extra impressive because, well, Lamont's a guy."

"It's a bit of a mystery why Mikey's not afraid of him. Only pops has met the guy so far, and apparently, he's a pretty scary guy." Raph said, flipping roti on a rack over the stove.

April was about to ask what she could do to help, when she heard the front door open. Everyone quickly set their tasks to a place where it wouldn't burn while they walked away, then flocked to the door.

Beside Mikey stood a tall boy, about seventeen, in black leather that almost matched his skin tone. His left ear had three piercings and a stud in his eyebrow. Mikey quickly ran introductions. "Hi. It's nice to meet y'all." Lamont rasped in a thick Cajun accent, a bright smile adorning his face.

"It's nice to meet you too." Leo replied, offering his hand for a shake. Lamont accepted rather eagerly, his hand shake was firm, but not quite painful.

"And just what is that fantastic smell?" Lamont asked, tipping his head up a little.

Donnie's wicked smile returned as he listed, "Curried vegetables, roti, and dal batti."

"How wonderful!" Lamont marveled. Mikey stood on his toes to tug a little at the collar of Lamont's jacket. Lamont bent back a little to allow Mikey to remove the jacket, reveling countless little scars along his arms. Mikey lead Lamont off to the kitchen, giving his siblings a look of annoyance as he passed them.

Once they'd gone, Raph grabbed Leo's arm and whispered, "Is your hand okay?" To which Leo just laughed and nodded.

"He's huge!" Donnie exclaimed as quietly as possible.

"He seems pretty sweet, though." April commented.

"If Mikey likes him, then he has to be." Miwa agreed, walking back towards the kitchen. "Raph, go tell mom and dad diner's ready."

"So Lamont, where ya' from?" Raph asked, leaning over his plate a bit.

"Marrero, Louisiana." Lamont replied.

"What's it like there?" Leo asked.

"It's nice. A little under nine square miles, an' less than a mile a' that's water." Lamont shifted a bit in his chair, "It's not all that far from New Orleans, so mama an' I used to go site seeing whenever we really needed out a' the house."

"So why'd you move to New York?" Donnie asked.

Lamont blushed a little, realizing he was getting the full third degree tonight. "Mama and I wanted a fresh start after daddy died. We figured New York was as good a place as any, and now we live in Brooklyn."

"Oh." Leo said, "Do you like it here?"

"Yeah, it's real nice. Lotta nice people too." Lamont said, smiling happily at Mikey.

April decided Lamont needed a break from the hot seat and asked Donnie how he was progressing in his science project. The talk remained on school for a while and when it moved on it, quite thankfully, moved on to sports, which Lamont was happy to talk about.

Dinner had been finished up and Lamont hung around for another half-hour, before saying he had to be heading home. As soon as the sounds of the departing motorcycle died down, Raph set a hand on Mikey's shoulder and said, "He's not half bad, we won't kill him. Yet." Raph smirked a little at the glare he got from Mikey.


	10. Chapter 10

Casey walked to the backdoor of the Hamato house and knocked. Through the backyard was the easy way to the house from the direction Casey came from, and he and Raph joked that backdoor friends were the best. "Hey." Raph said, opening the door. "Warning. We have a pair of 'study buddies' over."

"Who?" Casey questioned.

"You ever heard of 'Pigeon Pete' and 'Sir' Malachi?" Raph responded, looking a bit annoyed.

"Don't 'cha hate it when teachers assign partners?" Casey laughed.

"Kinda had to in this case. We're covering Medellin genetics in Bio." Raph explained. "And since my family is the pretty much the easiest game of 'spot the difference' ever, we had to get paired up with someone who could actually provide examples."

"What are you talking about?" Casey asked in mock confusion, "You and Leo are practically twins." Raph playfully punched Casey's arm as they walked into the dining room where Mikey, Pete, and Malachi had a bunch of pictures spread out.

"And this is my Uncle William." Malachi stated, holding up one picture. "He has free ears and a big nose."

"Got it." Mikey said, jotting down what Malachi said in a note book.

"Wait. Is Uncle William from your mom's, or your dad's side?" Pete asked, trying to figure out where to add the name to the family tree.

"He's my mom's brother." Malachi answered. "And I suppose we shouldn't factor in Aunt Linda, since she's my Aunt by marriage."

"I think we're supposed to include everyone." Pete said, "Maybe we'll get extra credit if we put in all your cousins!"

"My tree is written up as far as I can go." Leo stated, holding up a large sheet of paper. "Dad says he'll help me dig up some good photos of mama and papa when he gets home."

Casey looked it over, Leo had two branches leading to his name. The one that Casey figured was his biological branch read 'Oroku, Izumi S.' and 'Oroku, Saki'. He let his eyes roam the adopted branch, beside the name 'Oroku, Leonardo Y.' were the names: Hamato, Miwa K. / Boone-Hamato, Raphael V. / Hernandez-Hamato, Donatello H. / and Singh-Hamato, Nandi M. A.

Casey turned to Raph and asked, "What's 'V' stand for?"

"Virgil. After the great Roman poet." Raph explained. "In case you couldn't guess, my uncle was an art major and a literature minor."

"And either horrible at divination, or psychic and sarcastic." Mikey added, earning a laugh from Leo.

"What about Y?" Casey grinned tapping Leo's name.

"Yoshi. Papa chose it, in honor of his best friend." Leo explained.

"How about K?" Casey asked, setting his fingertip on Miwa's name.

"Kazumi."

"H?" Malachi inquired, pointing at Donnie's box.

"Hernandez."

"Donatello Hernandez Hernandez?" Malachi asked, leaning over to look at the tree.

"In Guatemala, a kid has their mother's maiden name as their middle name. Donnie's bio mom wasn't married though, so his middle and last names were the same."

"Nandi?" Malachi asked, pointing to the seemingly out of place name.

Mikey looked up from the chart he was writing. "My first name. But I usually use my second name."

"What's the third?" Pete asked, peering over at Leo's tree.

"Aahlaad." Mikey answered.

"Nandi Michelangelo Aahlaad Singh-Hamato." Malachi recited. "Has I nice ring to it."

Casey looked again at the biological branch. "I thought I heard your dad refer to your bio dad as 'Oroku'."

"Yeah. Dad and papa were in school, martial arts, and sports teams together all their lives, so they were practically brothers. Normally, when you get that close to someone, you call them by their first name. But when they were somewhere around twelve or whatever, they decided last names sounded better, so they just dropped the honorifics to show familiarity. Mom uses first names, though, because she's always thought it sounds cozier."

Raph clapped Casey on the back, "See Case, you thought you were coming over to hang, but really, this was an anthropology lesson all along."

"Isn't anthropology like, bugs, and stuff?" Pete asked. "You know, because 'ant'!" He added, upon having four confused faces turn to him.

Leo dropped his forehead into his palm, as Pete gave an indignant cry of, "What!?"


	11. Chapter 11

April waved to her dad as he drove away, after dropping her off at the Hamato's. It was a long weekend, and the Hamato children were hosting a movie night sleepover. Of course, she and Irma (who had become fast friends with Leo) would be sleeping in Miwa's room, for the sake of decency. Leo opened the front door, "Hey. Donnie's helping Mikey with snacks." He informed April, before he and Irma wandered off to join Raph and Casey's argument over which movie should be viewed first.

Before walking into the kitchen April shouted over her shoulder, "You guys all know I'm going to vote for 'Captin America' any day of the week." As April walked through the kitchen doorway she bounced off something and jumped a mile. She looked up in surprise into the face of Lamont. "Oh! You startled me!" April laughed.

Lamont smiled lightly, "My apologies."

"No, no. It was totally my bad." April responded, "I knew you were here somewhere. I mean, your bikes rather hard to miss." April said, referring to the homemade motorcycle parked in the Hamato's driveway.

"Kinda' had to, or I would have lost it every time I parked." Lamont joked, his broad smile showing all his teeth. Mikey laughed from his position at the popcorn popper.

"Hey." Donnie greeted April, gently bumping into her shoulder with his. "I'd give you an actual hug but-" Donnie's sentence tapered off as he lifted the large bowls of chips in either hand.

"What can I do?" April asked, surveying the kitchen.

"Could you take one or two of these to the coffee table?" Mikey asked, indicating the table with a five bowls of dips and toppings, and a plate of vegetables.

"Sure." April chirped, picking up two dips.

"If you'll get the door, I can get the rest." Lamont spoke, balancing the plate on his head, maneuvering two bowls into one hand, and grabbing the last normally.

"Wow. That's some serious talent." Mikey remarked, watching Lamont with a shy smile. "You're very clever."

Lamont snorted, "Nah. I worked in a diner for two summers. I can also pour coffee and write down orders at the same time."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Once the food had all been arranged, they started 'Iron Man' and found places to sit. April glanced around, Raph and Casey had plopped happily on a blanket on the floor. Miwa, Donnie, and April were sat in the three armchairs. And Leo, Irma, Mikey, and Lamont were squeezed onto the couch. It looked to April like Mikey was practically in Lamont's lap, and she couldn't help but wonder why no one moved.

YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

After a few more Marvel movies (and a break so Irma could pray), Casey suggested 'Jumanji' for a change of pace. Only Irma voted against it, despite loving the movie, and she just wanted it on record that she disagreed with Casey.

The movie was in full swing, and April looked over the third time that Mikey had gasped at a scare that everyone knew was coming. He was clutching Lamont's hand, and pressing himself against his larger friend. And that was the moment it clicked.

Well, clicked for April, Lamont still seemed to be oblivious.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lamont still hadn't caught on by the time the credits rolled, and April decided Mikey needed some help. April stood up, stretched and declared, "I need a break before the next movie. Hey Mikey, come to the kitchen with me?"

Mikey followed her in, "What's up?" He asked, closing the door.

April grinned at him, "Not much. I just figured I'd stop you before you tried the 'yawn and stretch' routine." She joked.

Mikey groaned and dropped his head in his hands. "Is it that obvious?"

"Only when you think to put all the 'symptoms' together. Laughing at jokes no matter what, marveling at everything they do, pining for contact." April listed, her grin widening.

"Oh gods!" Mikey groaned. "I've become a bad Bollywood movie! Is there any chance you want to fill the role of 'loving companion who offers advice to the main character'?"

"Sure." April smiled, and slung an arm around Mikey's shoulders, "Mikey. You're a sweet and darling guy, but dropping hints just doesn't cut it with some guys." April told him bluntly. "See, right there. I didn't dance around the subject, I told you want I needed to."

"Understood." Mikey acknowledged, took a deep breath, and exited the room. April waited about five seconds, then followed him.

When she entered the living room, Mikey and Lamont were heading upstairs. April chose to take this as a good sign, and resumed her previous spot in the armchair.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

About ten minutes wait later Raph got fed up and stood to get Mikey and Lamont, so they could start the next movie. April was about to stop him, when the two appeared on their own. April released her momentarily held breath when she saw that they were holding hands.

Everyone else noticed the hand-holding as well, and April found herself holding her breath again for, apparently no reason. Donnie simply suggested that Mikey sleep in their room tonight, instead of the living room. Mikey settled in against Lamont's side, and Lamont put his arm around Mikey's shoulders. And the two remained like that for two more movies.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once they were sure no one upstairs would be coming back down to the living room, Casey and Donnie grabbed a pair of flashlights and clicked them on. Raph and Leo had both stood and drawn themselves to full height, as Lamont looked around in confusion from his seat on the floor.

"Listen up, pal. We love our little brother, very much. And should you lay one, non-consensual, ill intending, and, or otherwise harmful finger on him, we will take action!" Raph warned, glaring coldly at Lamont.

"And you can take our word for it that, if we take action, no one would ever find your body." Leo added, not quite as threatening at Raph.

"I love him too!" Lamont argued, suddenly squaring his shoulders and standing up. "You don't need to give me the shovel talk! I've seen some shit in my life! I've seen destruction and the monsters who destroy! Monsters that I never, ever, want to become!" Lamont fumed, trying to keep himself from shouting and waking the house.

"We believe you." Donnie stated calmly, obviously trying to be 'good cop', "But, we also know that most of these 'monsters' don't realize what they're doing. So if we take you down one day, just know you had your warning."

"I swear to whatever gods may listen," Lamont hissed, "That if I ever, turn into one of those monsters, I'll help you dig my own grave."

The boys softened and nodded. "So noted." Leo acknowledged, his face breaking into a soft smile.

"Then we bless this unity, and welcome you into the family!" Raph added, over dramatically sweeping his arms out.

Lamont let his shoulders drop, and his shy smile returned, "Thank you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You mean to tell me, you gave someone the shovel talk, and didn't include me!?" Miwa exclaimed incredulously.

"You gave Lamont the shovel talk!" Mikey bellowed. "What would possess you to do that!?"

April munched on her cereal and watched the four boys shrink in their chairs. This morning was off to an interesting start.


	12. Chapter 12

Warning: use of slurs(censored) and foul language (uncensored).

Casey walked beside Raph as they followed Leo down the schools main hall towards freedom. Sadly, their freedom was snatched away as Hun, a senior with a seniority complex, stepped out in front of them.

"Where do you think you're going?" Hun demanded of Raph.

"Work." Raph answered in a monotonous voice. "I'm working the afterschool shift at pops' dojo today. Lot of little rugrats to teach how to hit a punching bag."

Hun snorted, "Like you could teach anything. You're the biggest dumbass n*&amp;%$# I know!"

"Hey! Watch the slurs!" Casey warned, trying to step between Hun and Raph, but felt Hun's arm thump him in the chest, blocking him off.

"Fuck off Squanto." Hun snapped, then pushed Raph's chest to force him back a step, "I'm just having some fun."

Casey could see Raph tensing up, and instinctively grabbed Raph's arm to hold him back. This turned out to be the wrong action.

Leo had used his leg to sweep Hun's feet out from under him, causing the upperclassman to fall with a huge 'thud'. Hun took a second to get his bearings, then leapt to his feet, "You'll pay for that you little shit!" He fumed, taking a swing at Leo's head. Leo managed to duck it, and promptly hit Hun the elbow of his now taught attack arm. Hun then kicked at Leo's shins, pulling a small grunt from Leo, just as Raph jumped in to pull Hun backwards by the shoulders. Leo then brought a knee up to deliver a blow to Hun's gut, leaving him winded and doubling over.

A teacher came to the doorway of her nearby classroom and quickly called an end to the fight before Hun could retaliate. "We're going to the principal's office, you can explain there." She scolded a stuttering Leo.

"I can do better than explain." Donnie informed, walking over holding his phone aloft. "I can show her."

The group stood around the principal Abbott's office as she reviewed the video Donnie took of the fight. Fortunately for Leo, the video began with Hun shouting the 'N word' at Raph. Principal Abbott had no tolerance for the use of slurs in her school, which already had Hun in hot water.

By the time parents had arrived to deal with situation, it had been decided that Hun had started the fight though verbal provocation, but Leo would still face punishment for delivering the first blow. Tang Shen gave Leo a slight glare and shouted something at him in Japanese, guessing by her tone, she was ticked off. She suggested to Principal Abbott that Leo's punishment be staying after school to assist in cleaning. Casey noticed Leo's face tighten and heard Raph's breathing change beside him, as if they were fighting off laughter.

After all loose ends had been taken care of, they left in a minor exodus. Casey hopped into the backseat of the Hamato's car. Tang Shen promptly chastising Leo in Japanese again, causing the Hamato children to laugh. "What?" Casey inquired, wanting almost desperately to understand what was going on.

"She said 'Next time, take it outside so she doesn't have to leave work.'" Raph explained, the lopsided grin never leaving his face.


	13. Chapter 13

"Guys, check this out." Irma shouted, running over to the rest of the group with a copy of the school's newspaper and a large grin. "Guess who was voted "cutest couple" this month."

"If I have to guess based off of last month's couple, it's two friends with little to no romantic interest in one another." Donnie griped.

"You're just annoyed that April looked better than you in the picture they used." Leo joked, bumping his shoulder into Donnie's.

"I think you're right. Either that, or a secret couple just got outed." April chimed, as Irma turned the paper to show them the article in question.

Mikey burst out laughing, partially from the situation, partially from the picture the editor had chosen. The picture was of Raph and Casey knocking the foreheads of their hockey helmets together and grinning, the way they always did after a good game. Casey was turning just one shade lighter than a tomato, while Raph just sighed and shook his head, muttering "Not again. I dealt with this once already, but twice is ridiculous."

"Again?" Casey questioned.

"You've been mistaken for your friend's gay lover before?" April added to Casey's question.

"Last summer. Practically everyone outside the family thought that Raph and his pal, G.B. were an item." Leo explained.

"Isn't that a band?" Irma asked, adjusting her glasses.

"That's the Bee Gees. G.B. is sort for Gilbert." Raph corrected.

"Long story short, poor Raphie had a hard time convincing people he's not into one of his buddies." Mikey remarked.

"It's fine though. We'll just solve this the same way we solved it last time." Raph stated.

"And how did you deal with it last time?" Casey inquired.

"Mostly ignored it, but occasionally explained to people that we were friends when asked." Raph replied.

"Yeah, I can do that." Casey stated.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Hey look, it's the cutest boyfriends." One of their teammates joked as Raph and Casey entered the locker room.

"Were you ever going to tell us?" Someone else chimed in. "Or were we going to have to wait for the wedding invites?"

"Very funny, guys." Raph responded, good naturedly to the chuckles.

"Seriously though, we don't have a problem if you are gay. But if you two were a couple we'd want to know." The instigator remarked.

"And we'd have told you if we were, long before any wedding. I've been telling you guys this for a week." Raph explained calmly.

"If you're all done discussing relationship statuses, we have a practice to get to." Coach spoke up.

"Sir, yes, sir." The whole team answered in unison, before leaving heading for the ice.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Good news boys." Irma called, waving a copy of the school paper was she walked over. "You're officially old news."

"I'm not sure how I feel about being replaced after two weeks." Casey chuckled, taking the paper from Irma.

"Ms. Richardson and Mr. Belpois were caught making out in the teacher's lounge. And there's photographic proof." Irma laughed.

"Seriously!" Raph exclaimed, grabbing at the paper to see for himself.

Casey was doubled over laughing, "Okay. I gladly concede my place as half of the school's biggest news to this gem of a story."

"Come on. Let's get celebratory take out." Leo suggested, flinging his arms around Raph and Casey.


	14. Chapter 14

April and Irma rushed into a near empty classroom that had served as a homeroom five hours ago. "I got your text. What's the emergency?" April asked Leo.

"Mikey won't come out from under the table." Leo explained, gesturing to a desk.

Irma got down on her knees and crept towards Mikey's hiding place. "Hi there. Can I use the desk beside yours?" She asked in a sweet voice, just above a whisper. April didn't hear an answer, but Irma crawled under the desk to Mikey's right.

"Can I ask what triggered this?" April asked Leo in a hushed voice.

"Raph lost his temper, punched his locker, and scared Mikey in the process." Leo told her. "Casey's dealing with Raph, but Mikey took off, and somehow ended up in here. He won't come out for me."

"We'll see what we can do." April said, before crossing the room to sit on the floor in front of the desk. "Mikey." She called softly, "Is there anything I can get you?"

April could practically see the wheels turning in Mikey's head before he mumbled, "Lamont."

"Okay. Can you hand me your phone, so I can text him which room we're in?" April asked, extending her arm. Mikey pulled out his phone and unlocked it before placing it in April's palm. "Thank you." April chimed, before typing out a message to Lamont, asking him to come to homeroom 155, because Mikey needed him.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Casey was about to the point of just sitting on Raph to get him to stop struggling. "Just let her bandage them, dude. Then we're out of here." He reasoned.

"I don't need 'em, so eff off!" Raph bellowed.

"While I commend your dedication to soft-swearing in this situation, you need to calm down and stop fighting us." The school nurse, Ms. Webb, scolded Raph. This seemed only to start a spur of the moment staring contest between the two, before Raph growled and looked away.

"Fine! Just get it over with!" Raph fumed, holding his hand out to Ms. Webb. Ms. Webb made quick work of cleaning the bloody patches and dressing them. Raph just muttered something under his breath as he stalked out the door, leaving Casey to express their thanks.

"Hey, wait up." Casey called, chasing after Raph. When Casey caught up, he threw an arm around Raph's shoulders. "You still haven't told me what has you so pissed."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't know!" Raph bellowed in Casey's face.

"Don't know why you can't tell me, or don't know what made you mad?" Casey quirked a brow. Raph didn't answer, he just flopped himself into Casey, who caught him in a sort of strangely angled hug.

"Well hey you two." April called, as she walked towards them. Behind her was Mikey, sniffling a little with Lamont's large denim jacket slung over his shoulders, and held in place by Lamont's arm.

Raph didn't answer, he just uncurled himself from Casey and stepped forward to meet Mikey. He gently picked up Mikey's hands in his and set his head on Mikey's shoulder.

The next fifteen minutes where mostly crying and making amends in Hindi.


	15. Chapter 15

Shout out to Deviant MaxzineZoruaLuna for suggesting this chapter's theme.

"Five days with no school, no work, we're staying at baba and sofu's, and speaking minimal English!" Raph cheered, slipping into his native accent "And, we get to bring Casey! It's like Christmas a month early!"

Casey laughed as he loaded his suitcase into the car. "You guys promise you're not going to abandon me in downtown Tokyo?"

"Promise." Donnie assured. "You'll be with one of us the whole time."

"Yeah. Setting you lose would not exactly get us a warm welcome back, especially in Tokyo." Mikey joked.

"You'll have a great time, I'm sure. As long as you watch where you step, practically no one will give you a second glance." Leo added.

"Watch where I step?" Casey questioned climbing into the seat beside Raph, glad that the Hamatos had a car that could seat eight.

"Yeah. If you step in the wrong place, mostly around the shrines, you might offend the gods." Leo explained.

Raph patted Casey on the shoulder, "Just stay close to me if baba and sofu take us to the shrines or a temple. Oh, and ask before you pick up anything, especially if it's near a statue."

"Don't try to tip the waitresses." Miwa advised from the seat behind Casey. "That's not a thing in Japan."

"Never lick chopsticks." Donnie added, climbing past Casey to get into the third row of seats.

"And don't stick them upright in rice." Mikey chimed in, following Donnie. "It looks like funeral incense. Not only is it offensive, but it will bring you bad luck."

"Don't blow your nose in public. It's considered gross." Leo said, elbowing Casey over so he could buckle his seatbelt.

"Picking your nose, on the other hand, is socially acceptable." Raph finished.

"Japan is going to be weird." Casey laughed, shaking his head.

"Funny. That's what Raph said about America." Leo jokingly mused.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After a painfully long plane ride, in which a million and one do's and don'ts of visiting Japan where explained to him, Casey hopped off the plane in Tokyo, Japan. "It feels good to be off that metal tube of doom." Casey commented, stretching out. Casey turned his head at the sound of all five Hamato children chuckling. "What? What's so funny?"

"Alright kids. Grab your bags, the train gets here in twenty minutes, you know the drill. And we missed the express train, so we have to take the two hour." Mrs. Hamato called. Casey's eye was twitching a little as the other's laughed even harder.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

This time, when Casey pried himself from the seat of a train, he really was done with transportation for the day. Raph promised that they would be walking to baba and sofu's house in Kyoto. Casey was listening to the babble around him, not understanding a single word. It was a little overwhelming, but kind of humbling too. This must be what it felt like for immigrants in a new country. It was like he was a kid again, not understanding the words around him, or the writings on the signs and buildings. "Is this what it felt like when you came to America?" Casey whispered to Raph, "Like you were so small in a big world you couldn't understand."

Raph stared at Casey for a moment before saying, "Well, yeah. I was three. I felt like that back in Pretoria, too. The only difference was I knew where all the bathrooms in the university were back home."

"Oh yeah." Casey felt his face heat up.

Raph grinned at him, "But for me, the lost feeling left a little when I learned a way to interact. I'm sure sofu would love to teach you katakana, one of our writing systems, if you're willing to give it a try."

Casey smiled, "You said "our." Is this place really that much like home to you?"

"It's where our parents are from, and our grandparents." Raph answered simply. "Speaking of whom, that's baba, over by the information desk." Raph indicated a sweet looking little old lady, with gray hair tied in a bun atop her head. Casey was a little astonished, mostly by what she wore; a simple ankle length skirt and a blouse, just like his grandma would wear. "What, where you expecting her to meet us in a kimono?" Raph joked. "No offense Casey, but you're not so rare to her that she'd dress formally to pick you up from the train station."

The family plus one made their way over to baba. The children all bowed to her, then bounced over for hugs. Baba was gushing over everyone, she even stepped forward and hugged Casey while saying something to him in Japanese. Casey turned to Raph for a translation, "She says you're too skinny. But don't worry, she'll get some good food in you and you'll be proper in no time." Raph grinned.

"In other words, prepare to eat a thousand fried dumplings." Donnie added, laughing at Casey.

"And don't bother trying to go light on the sauce." Miwa stated, "Baba makes sure we all gain five pounds somehow before we leave."

Japan was weird, but Casey had a feeling he was going to like it.


	16. Drabble one

I watched as Raphael ran around Jerome, giggling, and doing the little dance-like step down the hallway of the university. Raphael was finally four-years-old, and he was ecstatic to be celebrating back home with his uncle, but not quite as ecstatic as Jerome. Jerome had recently added two new items to his gallery, one was a sculpture of a turtle and the other a painting made entirely out of different shades of red. Neither piece was for sale, as they were both in honor of Raphael, whose favorite animal was turtles, and adored the color red.

Raphael ran back over to me, taking my hand and dragging me over to see the turtle. Having a mother was new to him, so I fully understood his excitement at having one to share these things with. I recalled the little squeal of joy Raphael emitted when he'd stepped into Jerome's studio just an hour ago, and how he'd ran and wrapped himself around his uncle. They were such a lovely family, and I knew it pained Jerome that he was unable to properly care for Raphael on his own. I was ever so glad to play my part in keeping them both cared for and together. I did everything in my power, from dialing the phone for Raphael, to flying across an ocean to visit, to insure this little family would remain strong.

As I watched Raphael play with Jerome, occasionally stopping to stare wide-eyed at a painting or statue, I knew that every bit of it was worth it.


	17. Drabble Two

Yoshi watched as the newest edition of the family wandered around the house. The little boy was amazed by seemingly everything from the colorful toys, to his new siblings. He seemed most enthralled by his mother, as he would follow her around like the fabled "little lamb," clutching onto her skirts and pressing his face to her leg.

Yoshi acknowledged that the little one had yet to warm up to his new father, and understood why, but understanding doesn't lessen the pain. The pain wasn't because the little boy didn't trust Yoshi, rather, because someone had given the boy a reason not to trust men. Yoshi wanted almost desperately to mend this poor child's broken past, and erase the scars, both mental and physical, his old home had left on him.

At this point, all Yoshi could do was offer love, support, and a better future. Perhaps one day this child will know and trust him as a father; but for now, Yoshi is content with the shy smiles that appear when his son's favorite songs are played on the radio.


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer; I don't own the Ramones, The Adicts, or either rendition of "I Wanna be Sedated". (but I do play it on loop sometimes.)

Miwa was sitting on the outside doorsteps when April got to the Hamato house, she looked bundled up enough, with an oversized coat, and one on her usual knit hats hanging off her head. Miwa looked up as she saw Irma walking over, "I'm warning you now, if you value your hearing, go in the back door and go straight to basement." Miwa cautioned.

"Okay. Do I want to know why?" Irma asked, slightly amused by Miwa's war-torn expression.

"Mikey's been on a puck rock kick, and when he and Raph decided they wanted to do a cover of the Adicts doing a cover of The Ramones 'I Wanna be Sedated', Donnie joined in, and then Casey caught a whiff of what was going on and brought his bass. And, to make the story of a torturous week short, only two of them can actually sing, but all four are trying anyways." Miwa said, shuddering for effect.

Irma laughed, until she could actually hear the 'music' from the house and understood why Miwa was outside.

"Yeah. They're in the attic right now, so you can imagine what it was like in the room directly below the music set-up." Miwa sighed, then turned back to the text book in her lap and grumbled, "This song makes me wanna sedate them all, and lock them in separate closets."


End file.
